Business

The high street empire founded by Mike Ashley is close to agreeing a deal to buy the stricken Savile Row tailor Gieves & Hawkes. Sky News understands that Frasers Group is in advanced talks to buy the brand, which was put up for sale earlier this year after its Hong Kong-based owner collapsed into liquidation.

Ofgem’s failure to effectively regulate energy suppliers since 2018 has “come at a considerable cost” to British households, a watchdog report has found. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said the energy regulator did not tighten requirements for new suppliers until 2019, or for existing suppliers until 2021, despite issues with the financial resilience of energy

The sale of collapsed energy company Bulb has been delayed by a High Court judge after concerns were raised by rival firms. The business is set to be bought by Octopus Energy, who announced it would be taking on Bulb’s 1.5 million customers after the company was placed into special administration last year. The deal

Byron, one of the UK’s best-known burger restaurant chains, is to be flipped to a new owner two-and-a-half years after a brush with insolvency. Sky News has learned that the company, which was one of numerous hospitality sector victims of the COVID pandemic, is working with advisers on a potential transaction. Sources said that the

FTX, one of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, is commencing bankruptcy proceedings in the US. Sam Bankman-Fried, its 30-year-old chief executive who once graced the cover of Forbes, is also resigning, days after its bigger rival Binance walked away from a proposed acquisition. His replacement, John J Ray III, said: “The FTX Group has valuable

The UK now officially has one foot in a recession. That might on the face of it sound like a statement of the obvious. After all, for many households up and down the country it has felt pretty tough for quite some time. That the Office for National Statistics (ONS) is now saying that gross

A union representing more than 100,000 civil servants has voted to strike in a dispute over pay, pensions and jobs. The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS), one of the largest unions in the UK, said the legal threshold for industrial action had been reached in 126 separate areas, covering workers including driving test examiners,

Britain is in the grip of a mental health crisis that is causing workers to drop out of the labour market and fuelling staff shortages. The number of people neither working nor seeking work has ballooned since the pandemic to almost nine million. Figures analysed by Sky News show that this is being driven by

Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, has become the latest big tech player to wield the axe in the tougher global economy, laying off 13% of its workforce. The firm announced on Wednesday it will cut its global headcount by more than 11,000 employees as part of a wider shake-up of the business that

Made.com has entered administration with the loss of all 573 jobs in the business. There was initially no news on how many, if any, workers would be saved when it was confirmed that the online furniture retailer’s operating subsidiary had officially collapsed and that rival Next had snapped up the brand, its website and intellectual

The owner of Pinewood Group, the most famous studio name in global movie-making, is transferring the company’s ownership to a new vehicle backed by some of the world’s biggest sovereign investors. Sky News has learnt that Aermont Capital, which bought Pinewood in 2016, will announce the move to bondholders on Wednesday. The new corporate vehicle,

The cost of the average annual grocery shop has risen by almost £40 in just one month, according to an industry report which is warning it is too early to say when food price inflation will peak. Kantar Worldpanel reported a fresh record grocery inflation figure of 14.7% for the four weeks to 30 October,

The owners of Liverpool FC have said they are open to offers, raising the prospect of the club being sold. The Fenway Sports Group (FSG), which also owns the Boston Red Sox, bought the club in 2010, with it going on to win the Premier League in 2019-20 and the Champions League in 2019. In

While most airlines and airports have struggled to return to pre-pandemic health, Ryanair has brought itself to a better position than 2019. Record passenger numbers in the second quarter and higher fares have resulted in a profit of €1.37bn (£1.2bn) for the first half of its 2023 financial year. The numbers are better than pre-pandemic.

Workers are set to see more money in their pay packets as a rise in National Insurance is being reversed today. National Insurance contributions rose by 1.25 percentage points in April as part of plans to help pay for social care and deal with the NHS backlog. Most employees will see a cut to their

Twitter has started rolling out its revamped subscription service that allows anyone to pay for a verification badge. An update to the platform’s iOS app, launched on Saturday, says the new-look Twitter Blue is now live, with the checkmark on your account listed among the perks of paying $7.99 a month. “Power to the people:

Grant Shapps, the new business secretary, will hold crunch talks next week with the owners of Britain’s second-biggest steel producer, amid dwindling hopes that a government aid package will prevent thousands of job losses. Sky News has learnt that Mr Shapps will speak to Jingye Group executives on Monday in an attempt to persuade the

Elon Musk has defended sacking half of Twitter’s 8,000 workers, saying “unfortunately, there is no choice”. Mr Musk insisted that the platform’s commitment to moderation remained “absolutely unchanged”. He tweeted: “Regarding Twitter’s reduction in force, unfortunately there is no choice when the company is losing over $4m a day. “Everyone exited was offered three months

Hundreds of workers at Heathrow will walk out in the run-up to the World Cup finals this month over demands for better pay. Unite said 700 staff, who are involved in ground-handling, airside transport and cargo and are employed by dnata and Menzies at Heathrow, will strike for three days starting from 18 November. The

The energy regulator has approved a scheme that will see households and businesses taking part receive financial rewards for saving power at times of peak demand. National Grid ESO, which operates the country’s electricity network, said Ofgem had backed its plans for the Demand Flexibility Service (DFS) for the current winter. The scheme is designed